Shattered
by Marky Marquez
Summary: Maybe Christmas Eve WASN'T the first day Roger met Mimi. Maybe they had a past...MimixRoger, RogerxApril in the beginning. Combined ideas from both the movie and the musical.
1. Love Heals

Disclaimer: I don't own RENT, or Adam Pascal...yet. XD

July 1987

It had been another wild night at Catscratch. My eyes still hurt from the flashing lights. I puffed on my cigarette and waited for April to show up at our local bar. She was coming with her new boyfriend, who I heard was a total babe.

Suddenly the door to the bar opened and I heard April's familiar, raspy laugh. I saw my best friend's trademark red hair. "Mimi!" April screamed and she ran toward me and hugged me. While we embraced I got a good look at that Greek God standing next to her. Ah, so THIS must be her boyfriend, I thought.

"Este es tu novio? Mi, mi, bonita elección, niña!" I playfully punched April's arm. She rolled her eyes.

"Oh, shut up," April said sternly, despite the fact that she was grinning from ear to ear. "Roger, this is my best friend Mimi. Meems, this is Roger, my boyfriend."

Roger and I shook hands. I can see why April was so into him - he was drop-dead gorgeous. Tall and muscular, with light blonde hair, he pretty much towered over short little April. I tried to ignore the tingling sensation that went up my arm when we shook hands.

April squealed. "Oh, this'll be so exciting! Excuse me for a sec, I gotta use the ladies' room. You two get to know each other!" She ran down to the restrooms.

I looked at Roger. Roger looked at me.

"So..."

"So...."

"April tells me you sing." Finally, I had found something to talk about.

Roger shrugged. God, that had to be the cutest shrug in the history of shrugs. "Yeah, I guess I do. Just a solo act, performing at various bars, nothing big. I can only do cover songs. I haven't been able to find the inspiration to write one. Nothing comes to me."

I smiled at him. "Maybe April can inspire you. Or, y'know, one of your crazy ex-girlfriends. They're always VERY inspirational." We laughed.

Roger grinned at me. "Hey, you're pretty funny," he said, punching my arm. I flushed. Ugh, why was I so attracted to him? Granted he was gorgeous, but he was APRIL'S BOYFRIEND. I couldn't help but grin back at him.

A series of beeps interrupted me from my trance. "Shit," I said, rummaging through my purse to find my timer. "AZT break." I pulled the pills out of my purse.

Roger raised his eyebrows. "You?" He gestured to the bottle of meds in my hands.

I swallowed a pill. "Me. You?"

He opened his mouth to say something. Right at that moment, April came waltzing back to our table. Roger put his arm around her. "Hola, Mimi-chica," she said, still grinning. "What'd I miss?"

I faked a smile. "Oh, nothing. We were just getting to know each other." I shot a nervous glance at Roger.

"He's quite a catch, isn't he?" April held onto Roger's hand as though her life depended on it.

"Oh, yeah, he's great." I looked at my watch.

"Hey, drinks on me." April gestured to the bartender. "Hey, you there!"

I grabbed my purse. "Another time, ok? I gotta get going." I kissed April's cheek and shook hands with Roger.

As I lay in bed that night my thoughts kept coming back to Roger. C'mon Mimi, just let him go, I scolded myself. I reached over to my bedside table until my hand found what I was looking for. I lifted the needle to shoot up, then slowly put it down, thinking better of it.


	2. I'm Not That Girl

Three Months Later...

October 1987

Not much had changed since July. Roger and April were still going strong, and although we were all friends I felt like a third wheel most of the time. After a couple weeks I stopped following them on their various dates.

Sadly, I still couldn't fight my attraction to Roger. Everytime I saw him, electrifying sparks went up my spine. And when he smiled at me...oh, God. Words couldn't describe how amazing that felt. In an attempt to stop this, I began dating someone.

His name was Benjamin Coffin III. I just called him Benny. He was, to be honest...horrible. He was late for dates, called me in the middle of the night, and various other jerkish acts.

After my stint at Catscratch, I went off to the Life Cafe. It was a local cafe that served rather disguisting food, yet for some reason I absolutely loved it. I sat at a table to wait for Benny, who was supposed to be meeting me tonight.

A half hour later he still hadn't shown. This didn't suprise me. I began to light a cigarette when Benny came striding through the doors of the cafe. He planted a kiss on my cheek.

"Sorry I'm so late. I got held up at work." Benny worked in real estate. If I could say one nice thing about him, it's that he was extremely rich.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Whatever, Benny. I gotta get home," I said, standing up. Benny suddenly grabbed my arms and pulled me close to him.

"You sure you don't want to go back to my apartment and...do a little business?" He whispered seductevly in my ear. "My roommates are out. We'd have the place all to ourselves."

Two could play this game. "Depends," I whispered sexily. "Are we gonna do a little business, or a lotta business?"

"Whichever you prefer." Benny pressed his lips to mine.

"In that case, let's get going."

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Things were getting rather heated between me and Benny. Shortly after leaving the Life Cafe, Benny took me to his loft on Avenue B.

"You whore!"

"You cannibal!"

Both of us were rather into it. I hoped we weren't being too loud.

All of a sudden, the door opened. In th doorway stood a skinny blonde man with a camera and a scarf. Scarf Guy was holding hands with a pretty pale brunette. Next to Scarf Guy was Roger. My jaw dropped.

"Mimi?!" Roger looked furious.

"You two know each other?!" Benny looked from me to Roger, then back to me.

"Yes, but that's beside the point." Roger pointed to Benny. "Why the hell are you HERE?! And with my girlfriend's best friend? Dude, Benny, we kicked you out months ago!"

I looked at Benny, aghast. "You don't actually live here?!"

Benny sighed. "Look, I can explain-"

The brunette lunged forward. Scarf Guy held her back. "I don't think ALLISON would approve!"

I looked back and forth between everyone while they argued. "Whose Allison?"

The room went silent. Scarf Guy and Roger exchanged a glance. "Allison is Benny's wife," the guy with the scarf said awkwardly.

I jumped up off the couch. "You're MARRIED?!"

Roger walked forward, his face totally serious. "Out. Out now." He pushed Benny towards the door. Benny tossed his key to Scarf Guy and left.

The brunette pounded on a wall. "What a SCUMBAG!" she yelled.

Roger looked at me. "Mimi, I'm so sorry this happened. Benny must've still kept the key, and obviously he didn't want his wife to find out about you-"

"Whatever. It's fine," I interrupted. "These must be your roommates."

He nodded. "That's Mark, and his girlfriend Maureen."

I waved to them.

Roger gestured to me. "Guys, this is Mimi, April's best friend."

"Nice to meet you." Maureen smiled. "Mark, stop filming."

Mark lowered his camera. "Sorry."

I laughed. "Well, this has been amusing, but I should get going."

"I'll walk you out," Roger said, turning to the door. At that moment, the phone rang. No one made any notion to get it.

"Aren't you gonna answer that?" I asked.

"Nah, we just screen it," replied Mark. "It's never anything interesting, anyway."

The answering machiene beeped. "Hey, Roger, it's April-"

Roger ran to pick up the phone. "Hey, April, what's up?" He asked casually. "Uh huh. Yeah, I remember. Wh-wait, what?! Oh, God. I'll be right there. Yeah, I'll tell her. Just stay there, we're coming." He hung up, looking pale.

"Roger? What is it?" Maureen asked, concerned.

Roger looked at me. "Mimi, we gotta go. April needs us."

A/N: CLIFFHANGERRRRR. =D You guys probably know what happens already....whatever. xD


	3. Goodbye Love

Roger and I rushed into the clinic. As we ran into the waiting room where April was, I noticed all the sad faces surrounding us. Some were crying, some were hugging a loved one for comfort, and a few of them looked…courageous. I gave them all small smiles.

When Roger and I got to the waiting room, the first thing I saw was April, slouched in one of those crappy plastic chairs. She didn't look like the lively, perky April I knew – this April was different. She looked…broken.

I hurried over and embraced her. "Oh my God, April, what's the matter?!" I cried, hugging her to me. She sobbed into my shoulder.

"M-Mimi," April stuttered, tears streaming down her face. "C-can you wait for me in the bathroom or something? I-I need to talk to R-Roger alone."

I looked at Roger and back to April. "Sure, of course. I'll wait for you."

As I waited in the bathroom, various possibilities of what could be wrong with April flashed through my mind. Hmm, maybe she was pregnant. That would explain why she wanted to talk to Roger alone. How great would that be, if April had a kid! I'd be Aunt Mimi.

I absentmindedly grabbed my small bag of smack out of my purse and twirled it through my fingers. I wanted to be a good aunt for this baby, a positive role model for them to look up to. I smiled at the thought and threw the bag into the trash can. Finally, I would quit.

The door to the bathroom opened, and April walked in. Her face glistened from the tears, and her mascara was running down her cheeks. I hugged her. "What is it? What happened?"

April's tears started to flow again. "We're…me and Roger…we're…." April's voice began to break. "HIV positive."

Well, she definatly wasn't pregnant….I hugged April yet again. "Oh my God, sweetie, it's gonna be okay. It'll all be fine," I said softly, stroking her pretty read hair.

April looked up at me. "No, Mimi, it won't." She reached into her purse and pulled out a knife.

My eyes widened as she pressed it near her wrist. "April, _NO_. April, what the hell are you doing?!"I grabbed her arm.

"LET ME GO!" She screamed, pulling backward. I lost grip of her arm as she stumbled into a stall, blade pressed to her right arm.

"April, stop it!" I yelled furiously. April locked the stall door. I continued yelling. "This is a mistake! It's not your time!"

I heard her mumbled from the stall. "Yeah? Whatever."

I pounded the stall door. "C'mon! Think of Roger! Think of me!"

Slowly, she opened the door and poked her head out. "I know," she said, softly. "I know. It hurts to think about not waking up beside him anymore. Which is why I want you to take my place."

I was confused. "Wh-what?"

"Mimi, please, I'm not dumb. I know you like him. You two deserve each other. Now, if you'll excuse me," April said, glancing at me and closing the door. "I'd recommend you leave."

The door shut with a click.

No. _No_. There was no way I'd let this happen.

I ran down the hallway of the clinic. "HELP!" I yelled. "SOMEONE! ANYONE! MY BEST FRIEND IS TRYING TO KILL HERSELF. HELP!"

Roger ran up to me. "Mimi, what's going on?!"

I started to cry. "It's April! She's slitting her wrists in the bathroom and I can't get her to stop!"

"Oh, God." Beads of nervous sweat appeared on Roger's forehead. We ran down to the bathroom, panting and out of breath. We barged in to the bathroom, crying out April's name.

"April! April, stop!" Tears fell down Roger's face as he pounded on the stall door while I sobbed hysterically.

We heard April shriek, and heard a loud _thud_. April fell to the floor, with blood on her wrists and the knife in her hand.

I felt April's pulse. I glanced up at Roger with tears in my eyes. "We're too late."


End file.
